Things Change
by NorthAmericanJaguar
Summary: When the Dark Lord punishes Lucius, Draco Malfoy takes his father's place. The outcome is unimaginable as Draco seeks to discover himself- and come to terms with what he's become. Werewolf!Draco Eventually Dramione.
1. Chapter 1

"Lucius Malfoy." The Dark Lord's voice cut through the air with a threatening timbre. "How far from glory you have fallen. Tell me, what use is the Malfoy family to me when you cannot accomplish the simplest of tasks?"

The three Malfoys cowered under their Master's baleful glare. Their haunted, ragged looks contrasted sharply with the luxuries of their home, Malfoy Manor, which surrounded them. The ignorant outsider may not have even been able to tell that it _was_ their home, considering how Voldemort lorded over it while they sat as meek as church mice.

All four of them were seated around an ornate table. Voldemort naturally sat at the head of the table. To his immediate right and left sat Lucius and Narcissa, with Draco to his mother's left. The Dark Lord's eyes glittered malevolently in the dim light.

"My lord," rasped Lucius, breaking his deadpan stare from the wall. "I am your humble servant. The Malfoy family has done nothing but serve you, even Draco-"

"Silence!" Hissed Voldemort with poorly contained fury. "This has never been about Draco! It is about you! It has _always_ been about you? Do you really think I _believed _your son could kill Dumbledore, the so-called most powerful wizard of our day and age? Of course not! If all went according to plan, Draco would be dead as punishment for your failures!"

Draco visibly flinched. Narcissa, if possible, grew a shade paler. Lucius stared at his hands and set his jaw, a blend of fear and anger apparent on his face. In the distance, jagged lightning tore across the sky. The rain tapped relentlessly on the windowpanes.

"However, I have found a new, more fitting punishment for you." Voldemort leered as Nagini twined herself around the Dark Lord's arm. He petted the snake's head tenderly, almost lovingly. "Perfect for a worthless mutt such as yourself. As I was explaining to dear Bellatrix earlier, our pureblooded family trees are in need of much pruning. Clearly you are an incompetent Death Eater, so how do you feel about being second best? A werewolf, perhaps?"

Lucius Malfoy looked up, trembling. "My lord-"

"No!" Everyone stared at the speaker astonished. Draco wore an equally surprised look on his face, as if he could not believe he had dared defy the Dark Lord. He sank down in the seat, wishing a hole would appear in the floor and swallow him up. He wanted to be anywhere, anywhere but in front of those cold red eyes!

"You dare defy your master?' Voldemort asked in a deceptively soft voice. Draco remained silent, not trusting himself to speak.

"Very well then. You will take on your father's punishment in his place." As if on cue, the door swung open and a large gray werewolf padded in. Draco recognized the monster as Fenrir Greyback.

_I must stay strong, I must stay strong…. _He thought to himself as the werewolf drew ever closer. The monster's eye bored into his, eerily alert and calm. _He's under the influence of the Wolfsbane potion. _Somehow that only made the situation all the more terrible. This was a calculated act on Voldemort and Greyback's part.

Part of Draco wondered why he was doing this, he was no bloody Gryffindor! He hadn't meant to speak out against the Dark Lord. It had been a slip of the tongue, never in his life had he rocked the boat. However, he loved his father. Contrary to popular belief, his father had once been a loving, caring parent. Albeit a little stern, but a proud father none the less. Draco dreamed of one day following in his footsteps.

_This can't really be happening._ He inched back; waiting for the moment Lord Voldemort would reveal he was bluffing and call of Greyback. _I can't do this! I'm a Malfoy, I can't be a monster! I change my mind!_

Draco staggered to his feet and tried to run. The werewolf sprang, pinning the youngest Malfoy to the floor. His parents, wandless and helpless could only watch in horror as Greyback reared back his head in a victory howl. Their son was terrified, crying out and begging the Dark Lord for mercy.

_Maybe he'll just kill me now. _Thought Draco as the werewolf eyed him hungrily. With a final lunge, Greyback brought his teeth down onto is shoulder and bit down hard. He screamed as the fangs pierced his flesh, and a painful jolt shot through his body. The werewolf leapt off him, his work was finished.

Weakly, Draco tried to stand up. His vision was spinning and the floor seemed to lurch beneath his feet. He took one shaky step, then two. Nausea hit him like a wave and as he collapsed, everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing Draco noticed was the sound of his own breathing and a dull throb in his shoulder. He groaned wearily and opened his eyes. He was in his room, midmorning light shone through the window. He was in his bed, tangled in his green silk sheets as if he had spent the night tossing and turning. His room had a comforting familiarity to it; a Slytherin banner hung on the wall, along with enchanted pictures of his parents and friends from Hogwarts.

With a yawn, Draco shifted to a half-sitting position, earning another twinge from his hurt shoulder. He twisted his head to examine it. It was wrapped in a bloodstained cloth, so it must have bled profusely.

_It must be a cursed wound, _He realized, unable to recall what had occurred last night. _But how did this happen? _He thought back, narrowing his eyes slightly with the strain of remembering. Slowly, bits and pieces began coming back to him-his parents, the Dark Lord…Fenrir Greyback….

His eyes widened in horror. _No…No! No! It wasn't possible! I can't be a- an actual…_

The train of thought was too sickening to continue. He felt filthy, contaminated. Impossible! How had this happened to _him_ of all people? He was Draco Malfoy, a wealthy superior pureblood and the youngest Death Eater on record! It wasn't supposed to be this way!

What were his parents going to think? What was his father going to think? Would they really be cold enough to disown their own son? Merlin, he was going to end up like bloody Professor _Lupin_, wearing tattered robes and living off the pity and generosity of others. For the first time in his life, he felt sorry for the werewolf professor. Almost.

Then the thought hit him. He-he wasn't human anymore! He would be classified as a Magical Creature, a dangerous rabid animal. His pureblood status was now virtually nonexistent. To have a werewolf in the family was just as shameful as having a Mudblood marry into the family, if not more so. Even to this day, Draco remembered what his father had told him about werewolves after the summer of his third year.

_He had just gotten off the Hogwarts Express and strode over to greet his father. _

_"Did you hear?" He asked with his signature smirk. "This year's Defense against the Dark Arts teacher was a werewolf. I always knew there was something off about him; no self-respecting wizard would wear such shabby clothes .It's a shame he resigned, I was looking forward to watching him get sacked." _

_Lucius had paused and watched his son intently for a moment before replying. "Some wizards, Draco, are better than others. Never forget it. But werewolves are different creatures entirely. They are single-minded monsters with the intelligence of a witch or wizard. Don't let them fool you. They may look like us, talk like us, and act like us, but it is all just a charade to get you to lower your defenses so that they may strike. They don't really think or feel, at least not the way we do."_

Draco had believed his father. Clearly, werewolves were not human; so they did not deserve to be treated as such. However, he could not get over how _human_ he felt. He was still Draco Malfoy, a wizard with thoughts and feelings, goals and ideas. If only everyone else would see it that way. Struggling not to panic, he slowly got out of bed, passing the mirror on the way out the door. He stopped in his tracks and doubled back.

Something about his appearance was off. Draco peered attentively at his reflection, determined to figure out what was off. His eyes, he noticed, were the wrong color! Instead of the trademark grey of the Malfoy family, they were amber- brown. The eyes of a werewolf. The eyes of a monster. The reality of his situation struck him even harder with the physical evidence of his affliction.

He stared into the amber eyes that weren't his own. He felt as though he was back in his sixth year, in the bathroom crying in front of the mirror. A choked sob racked his body. This was worse, so much worse.

Draco put off leaving his room for another hour before mustering up the courage to face the rest of the world. He changed his robes and combed back his hair, doing his best to ignore his reflection. Then, taking a deep breath, he opened the door.

Immediately he was assaulted by a flood of sounds and smells. Everyone was talking so _loud_; he could indistinctly hear conversations on the first floor. He could smell the aroma from the breakfast made earlier that morning, the polish his father used on his boots, even the pungent odor Draco knew instinctively to be snake.

His senses had been heightened significantly overnight, due to his affliction, as Draco preferred to call it. After realizing his parents weren't upstairs, he headed reluctantly downstairs into the thong of Death Eaters. He weaved his way through the groups, trying to ignore the insults heaped on him.

"Hey wolf boy!"

"You wanna howl to the moon?"

"Filthy little half-breed!"

Draco clenched his fists. Restraint was not his strongest point, but what was he going to do? Tell his father? It was all true.

He rounded a corner and found his parents sitting on a velvet couch in the living room. Immediately, Narcissa jumped up and hugged her son. Her whole body quivered and Draco could tell that she'd been crying.

"I was so worried about you." She murmured running her fingers soothingly through his hair.

"Mother-"

"I don't care what you are, Draco Malfoy. You'll always be my son."

Relief flooded through his body. "But I'm a-"he took a shaky breath "werewolf." Her grip on him tightened protectively. She was on the verge of tears, her whole body quivered.

"Shh…it'll be alright." Then he understood. She was being strong, for him. Gently he untangled himself from her embrace, and turned to his father, who was still seated on the couch. Lucius looked as though he hadn't slept all night, which was most likely the case. He stared at Draco as if he had seen a ghost. At last he spoke.

"You saved me."

Mutely, Draco nodded.

His father shifted his cane slightly, fingering the silver serpent head piece on the end. Always a bad sign.

"But you are no longer one of us."

"Lucius!" cried Narcissa outraged. "He is your son!"

"My son was a pureblooded Malfoy, not a monster. My son is dead to me." With that, he stood up and quickly left the room. Draco stood in disbelief, feeling like he was truly seeing his father for the first time.


End file.
